Evaluating the Dynamical Stability of Outer Solar System Objects in the Presence of Planet Nine

Becker, Juliette; Adams, Fred C.; Khain, Tali; Hamilton, S.; Gerdes, D. W.

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa7aa2

Cited by 54 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…When this happens, the particle enters a stochastic dynamical regime and hops in the semimajor axis until it locks into a new resonance, and the secular dynamics drives it away from the collision locus of the new resonance. Importantly, this type of behavior is observed in numerical integrations of real objects under the influence of Planet Nine (Becker et al 2017;Millholland & Laughlin 2017).…”

Section: The Anti-aligned Populationmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Although numerical simulations aimed at reproducing the Kuiper Belt's orbital makeup through gravitational interactions with Planet Nine are now plentiful in the literature (Batygin & Brown 2016a;Becker et al 2017;Millholland & Laughlin 2017), the physics of the dynamical processes responsible for shaping the distant Kuiper Belt remains largely unclear (Beust 2016). In this work, we sought to resolve this problem and characterize the dynamical evolution induced by Planet Nine in long-period KBOs on semi-analytic grounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike the simulation suite of Batygin & Brown (2016a), ), Millholland & Laughlin (2017, and Becker et al (2017), where Neptune was modeled directly, or that of Batygin & Brown (2016b), where the Keplerian motion of all four inner giants was resolved, here we emulate the effects of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune with an effective quadrupolar gravitational moment of the Sun, . This idealization is employed specifically to avoid contaminating P9-induced KBO evolution with chaotic dynamics that arise from scattering off Neptune, and to yield the closest point of comparison between numerical and semi-analytical results.…”

Section: Numerical Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Expanding on this idea, Malhotra et al (2016) suggested that each of the distant KBOs are currently trapped in N:1 and N:2 MMRs with Planet Nine. More recently, Millholland & Laughlin (2017) and Becker et al (2017) carried out a large-scale numerical exploration of the resonant hypothesis in relation to the existing data, further demonstrating its viability. Meanwhile, Beust (2016) showed that a purely secular treatment of the dynamics provides a good match to the simulation results of Batygin & Brown (2016a), suggesting that resonant dynamics may be irrelevant to the problem at hand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

Batygin¹,

Morbidelli²

2017

131

192

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The observational census of trans-Neptunian objects with semimajor axes greater than 250 aũ exhibits unexpected orbital structure that is most readily attributed to gravitational perturbations induced by a yetundetected, massive planet. Although the capacity of this planet to (i) reproduce the observed clustering of distant orbits in physical space, (ii) facilitate the dynamical detachment of their perihelia from Neptune, and (iii) excite a population of long-period centaurs to extreme inclinations is well-established through numerical experiments, a coherent theoretical description of the dynamical mechanisms responsible for these effects remains elusive. In this work, we characterize the dynamical processes at play from semi-analytic grounds. We begin by considering a purely secular model of orbital evolution induced by Planet Nine and show that it is at odds with the ensuing stability of distant objects. Instead, the long-term survival of the clustered population of long-period Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) is enabled by a web of mean-motion resonances driven by Planet Nine. Then, by taking a compactform approach to perturbation theory, we show that it is the secular dynamics embedded within these resonances that regulate the orbital confinement and perihelion detachment of distant KBOs. Finally, we demonstrate that the onset of large-amplitude oscillations of the orbital inclinations is accomplished through the capture of lowinclination objects into a high-order secular resonance, and we identify the specific harmonic that drives the evolution. In light of the developed qualitative understanding of the governing dynamics, we offer an updated interpretation of the current observational data set within the broader theoretical framework of the Planet Nine hypothesis.

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Section: The Anti-aligned Populationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Numerical Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

Batygin¹,

Morbidelli²

2017

131

192

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“…In figure 10, we plot the sensitivity projections for Gaia-like parameters in thick solid orange for when the planet is in front of a field of background sources with average angular number density, and in thin solid orange for when the planet is in front of a dense star field such as the Galactic disk, a situation which may not be that unlikely for the hypothesized Planet Nine of refs. [85][86][87] since it is weakly preferred that its aphelion points in that direction. In dashed orange, we show the sensitivity at unit signal to noise for a mission such as Theia with a positional precision improvement by a factor of 20, and an angular number density of 10 9 and 5 × 10 10 , respectively.…”

Section: Planet Ninementioning

confidence: 99%

Halometry from astrometry

Tilburg

Taki

Weiner

2018

J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.

113

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Halometry-mapping out the spectrum, location, and kinematics of nonluminous structures inside the Galactic halo-can be realized via variable weak gravitational lensing of the apparent motions of stars and other luminous background sources. Modern astrometric surveys provide unprecedented positional precision along with a leap in the number of cataloged objects. Astrometry thus offers a new and sensitive probe of collapsed dark matter structures over a wide mass range, from one millionth to several million solar masses. It opens up a window into the spectrum of primordial curvature fluctuations with comoving wavenumbers between 5 Mpc −1 and 10 5 Mpc −1 , scales hitherto poorly constrained. We outline detection strategies based on three classes of observables-multi-blips, templates, and correlations-that take advantage of correlated effects in the motion of many background light sources that are produced through time-domain gravitational lensing. While existing techniques based on single-source observables such as outliers and mono-blips are best suited for point-like lens targets, our methods offer parametric improvements for extended lens targets such as dark matter subhalos. Multi-blip lensing events may also unveil the existence, location, and mass of planets in the outer reaches of the Solar System, where they would likely have escaped detection by direct imaging.

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Perspectives on the distribution of orbits of distant Trans-Neptunian objects

Kavelaars

Lawler

Bannister

et al. 2020

The Trans-Neptunian Solar System

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Looking at the orbits of small bodies with large semimajor axes, we are compelled to see patterns. Some of these patterns are noted as strong indicators of new or hidden processes in the outer Solar System, others are substantially generated by observational biases, and still others may be completely overlooked. We can gain insight into the current and past structure of the outer Solar System through a careful examination of these orbit patterns. In this chapter, we discuss the implications of the observed orbital distribution of distant trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). We start with some cautions on how observational biases must affect the known set of TNO orbits. Some of these biases are intrinsic to the process of discovering TNOs, while others can be reduced or eliminated through careful observational survey design. We discuss some orbital element correlations that have received considerable attention in the recent literature. We examine the known TNOs in the context of the gravitational processes that the known Solar System induces in orbital distributions. We discuss proposed new elements of the outer Solar System, posited ancient processes, and the types of TNO orbital element distributions that they predict to exist. We conclude with speculation.

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Evaluating the Dynamical Stability of Outer Solar System Objects in the Presence of Planet Nine

Cited by 54 publications

References 38 publications

Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

Dynamical Evolution Induced by Planet Nine

Halometry from astrometry

Perspectives on the distribution of orbits of distant Trans-Neptunian objects

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